Noted Civil War Historian and author John M. Priest has written an excellent book titled Before Antietam: The Battle for South Mountain. The author based the book on the letters, diaries, and personal memoirs of the soldiers in the battle. This battle in September of 1862 occured when the Army of Northern Virginia invaded Maryland when General Robert E. Lee wanted to divert federal troops (Army of the Potomac) away from the Confederate Capital of RIchmond, Virginia. The area of South Mountain is part of the Blue Ridge Mountain Range of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It begins at the Potomac RIver and increases in height and width as it goes northward. It is not a good area for battles, yet the battle occured in September 1862. When General Lees Special Orders No. 191 were captured by a Union corporal and a 1st Sergeant they were quickly passed to the Army of The Potomacs leading General Geroge McClellan. He believed it was a great stroke of luck and inspired him to make a quick move (unlike his prior performance as leader of the Army of The Potomac) and march towards South Mountain. But as usual Little Mac made some great mistakes. He overestimated the number of troops the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) had, and as a result he went back to his overlay cautious nature and postponed encountering the ANV. Secondly, the Union commanders made no moves to hide their armys presence. Thus the ANV knew the Union army was on the move to meet and battle them. The author then tells the history of the battle where overwhelming numbers of Union troops battled savagely with the ANV and the fighting turned into hand-to-hand combat with bayonets and clubbed muskets. Two generals (CSA and USA) would be killed, Union General Jesse Reno and Confederate General Samuel Garland. Two future US Presidents would be in the battle were Rutherford B. Hayes who was severly wounded in the battle, and William MCkinley. This battle was a Union victory, and would set up the major battle of Antietam days later. Mr. Priest noted that General Robert E. Lee would comment that he would not go back to Virginia unless he had a battle victory. Interestingly, the Battle of South Mountain was not a Confederate victory nor was the Battle of Antietam. However, because of South Mountain and Antietam, General Lees life would be turned into legend and his reputation as a battle commander would be turned into glory for him and the ANV. This is an excellent book about the early major battle in the eastern theatre of the Civil War. Mr. Priest does an outstanding job of reseaching personal diaries of the battle from the soldiers and instead of giving the mundane, technical analysis of the battle (which many Civil War authors have a habit of doing) he gives the soldiers and officers point of view and history of the battle which inturn makes this a very interesting read! This is a HIGHLY recommended book that is a must have for anyone interested in the early battles of the Civil War, the ANV, and the Army of the Potomac!
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 14:39:44 +0000
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